Thermodynamic power generation system

ABSTRACT

A power generation system that includes a heat source loop, a heat engine loop, and a heat reclaiming loop. The heat can be waste heat from a steam turbine, industrial process or refrigeration or air-conditioning system, solar heat collectors or geothermal sources. The heat source loop may also include a heat storage medium to allow continuous operation even when the source of heat is intermittent. Heat from the heat source loop is introduced into the heat reclaiming loop or turbine loop. In the turbine loop a working fluid is boiled, injected into the turbine, recovered condensed and recycled. The power generation system further includes a heat reclaiming loop having a fluid that extracts heat from the turbine loop. The fluid of the heat reclaiming loop is then raised to a higher temperature and then placed in heat exchange relationship with the working fluid of the turbine loop. The power generating system is capable of using low temperature waste heat is approximately of 150 degrees F. or less. The turbine includes one or more blades mounted on a rotating member. The turbine also includes one or more nozzles capable of introducing the gaseous working fluid, at a very shallow angle on to the surface of the blade or blades at a very high velocity. The pressure differential between the upstream and downstream surfaces of the blade as well as the change in direction of the high velocity hot gas flow create a combined force to impart rotation to the rotary member.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/708,088, entitled “Thermodynamic Power Generation System”filed on Feb. 18, 2010, which in turn claims the benefit of the filingdate of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/154,020, filed onFeb. 20, 2009, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to externally heated engines. Moreparticularly the invention relates to improvements in efficiency andperformance of externally heated engines operating at low temperaturesand pressures.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Externally heated engines especially those similar to the gas or liquidturbine type engines have always held great promise. This is becausesuch engines are reasonably efficient, relatively simple in theiroperation, and flexible in the media they can employ as working fluids.At the same time however, they have been held back in many applicationsby certain serious limitations.

Turbine style engines that employ liquid fluid flows are the mostlimited. Unless one has access to a dam, with a large head of waterbehind it, or a particularly rapidly flowing stream with a large drop inelevation, one cannot produce significant amounts of power. Without adam or a stream it is simply not feasible or efficient to heat theliquid sufficiently, or to pump it uphill far enough and cheaply enough,to obtain a useful net output. Similarly, a paddle wheel type structuresuch as found on certain steam ships for instance, require a separatesource of motive power, such as a steam engine, to operate them.

Turbine type engines that employ flows of a gaseous fluid hold morepromise. It is practical to employ fluids in the gas phase to powerengines, as in steam locomotives for example. Other types of hot gasturbines are also well known in the prior art, and can operateeffectively. In virtually all of these cases however, the requiredtemperatures and pressures to which the gas must be raised are veryhigh. It is not uncommon for such engines to reach temperatures ofhundreds of degrees Fahrenheit, and at the same time to operate atpressures of hundreds of PSI. In general, this means that a source ofcombustion must be specifically provided and operated in conjunctionwith the engine, for the sole benefit of the engine, in order to reachthe operating levels required.

Old style steam locomotives and stationary steam engines for instanceran on large coal fires, operating in conjunction with pressure-raisingpumps, to produce the required levels. Such engines were well known forexploding at inopportune times.

Gas turbine engines, such as those used at electrical generationstations, also employ very high temperatures and pressures. Jet turbineengines, such as those employed on aircraft, also produce extremely hightemperatures in their combustion chambers, and they further employmultiple stages of compression to reach the desired pressures andtemperatures.

The present invention is directed to a heat engine and power generatingsystem that avoids high temperatures and pressure and relies instead onrelatively low temperature heat sources and low pressure operatingfluids to generate energy. The system will function without the need forour own dedicated source of combustion in order to operate and willoperate at a relatively high efficiency, and produce significant amountsof power. The engine is designed to operate on low temperature wasteheat left over from other processes, or to operate on low temperaturesolar, geothermal power, power plant waste heat, or waste heat availablefrom air conditioning or refrigeration units or for instance.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

The configuration of turbine power plants including in particular theturbine blades on a rotating member, the housing construction and theworking fluid inlet and exhaust ports have been the subject of manyprior art patents.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,501,249 to Scalzo, is directed to turbine rotors andparticularly to structure for locking the turbine rotor blades in theperiphery of the blade supporting disk.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,069 to Basmajian discloses an apparatus comprising aturbine rotor wheel made of a central circular disc with arc-bent plateturbine blades mounted on and bonded to the disc at close and regularintervals around the disc periphery and a stator-housing with atransparent cover for enclosing the turbine wheel, holding one or morefeed nozzles and providing a stator reaction mount for the nozzles, thewheel and its housing being mounted from an instrument chassiscontaining parameter adjusting means and turbine output adjusting andmeasuring means to provide a compact, economical demonstrator of turbineoperation.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,137 to Miller et al discloses a rotor assembly andmethods for securing rotor blades within and removing rotor blades fromrotor assemblies. The rotor assembly comprises a rotor disc defining aplurality of blade grooves, and including a plurality of tenons disposedbetween the blade grooves and defining a plurality of pin socketsradially extending inward from outside surfaces of the tenons; and aplurality of rotor blades, each blade including a root disposed within ablade groove to secure the blade against radial movement, and a bladeplatform overlaying a tenon and defining a radially extending pinaperture. The rotor assembly further comprises a plurality of lockingpins radially extending through the pin apertures and into the pinsockets to secure the rotor blades against axial movement, each pinincluding a head and a base to limit radial movement of the pin.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,454 to Wosika discloses a full admission radialimpulse turbine and turbines with full admission radial impulse stages.The turbines are of the single shaft, dual pressure type. Provision ismade for utilizing working fluid exhausted from the high pressuresection, in which the radial impulse stage(s) are located, in the lowpressure section which contains axial flow turbine stages. The (or each)radial impulse stage in the dual pressure turbine has a rotor or wheelwith buckets or pockets oriented transversely to the direction of wheelrotation and opening onto the periphery of the wheel. Working fluid issupplied to the buckets via nozzles formed in, or supported from, anozzle ring surrounding the turbine wheel and aligned with the entranceends of the buckets.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,838 to Miller et al discloses buckets of a turbinewheel that are formed as a series of equally spaced, overlappingU-shaped passages in the rim of a wheel blank. In the machiningoperation, an island is left as the inner segment of the curved portionof the U and this is used in combination with labyrinth seals to providea fluid seal between the inlet and the outlet portion of each bucket.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,754 to Violette discloses a retention system for arotor blade that utilizes the combination of a fixed retention flangeand a removable retention plate with a closed-sided retention member.This system enables the rapid replacement or removal of the rotor bladefor inspection, maintenance, or replacement purposes without requiringremoval of surrounding major engine components or structural members.The rotor blade is installed in a retention member contained in arotatable hub (not shown) by inserting an outwardly extending portion ofa shaped blade root of the rotor blade below a radially-inwardlyprojecting shaped flange peripherally disposed within the interior ofthe retention member's structure. A removable shaped retention plate,which is releasably secured to, and adapted to mate with, the retentionmember, then captures and secures another outwardly extending portion ofthe shaped root of the rotor blade with a releasable fastener. Theshaped root is secured within the retention member without a directbolted connection. Preloading the fastener induces compressive loadingamong the system components, resulting in the attenuation or eliminationof fretting and wear of their respective component surfaces.

The prior art includes many examples of power systems that attempt tocapture waste heat from a primary heat source and reuse the energy in asecondary power system.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,554 to Kelly discloses a heat engine operatingbetween temperatures T1 (low) and T2 (high) includes separate vaporclosed-cycle motor and pump systems, in heat-exchange relation at T1 andT2, and heat-exchangers between the condensates of said systems.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,973 to Cheng et al discloses a heat engine, or aheat pump, in which the working medium is subjected alternatively tosolidification and melting operations. A working medium is referred toas an S/L type working medium that is subjected to cyclic operations,each cycle comprises of a high temperature melting step conducted undera first pressure, and a low temperature solidification step conductedunder a second pressure. Each heat pump cycle includes a hightemperature solidification step conducted under a first pressure and alow temperature melting step conducted under a second pressure. When anon-aqueous medium is used, the first pressure and the second pressureare a relatively high pressure and a relatively low pressure,respectively. When an aqueous medium is used the two pressures are arelatively low pressure and a relatively high pressure, respectively.The operation of a heat pump is the reverse operation of a heat engine.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,809 to Björklund discloses a procedure forconverting low-grade thermal energy into mechanical energy in a turbinefor further utilization. The procedure is characterized in that alow-grade heating medium and a first cooling medium are evaporated in aheat exchanger. The steam is carried to a turbine for energy conversionand moist steam is carried from here to a heat exchanger for condensing.The condensate is pumped back to the heat exchanger. The heat exchangeris common to the steam turbine circuit and a heat pump circuit in such amanner that the heat exchanger comprises a condenser for the steamturbine circuit and an evaporator in the heat pump circuit. The heatremoved in connection with condensing can be absorbed by a secondevaporating cooling medium the steam of which is pumped via a heat pumpto a heat exchanger which is cooled by cooled medium from the heatexchanger and where condensing takes place. The condensate is carriedvia an expansion valve back to the heat exchanger while outgoing cooledmedium from the heat exchanger is either heated in its entirety to alower level than the original temperature at the commencement of theprocess or else a partial flow is reheated to a level that is equal toor higher than the original temperature at the commencement of theprocess and returned to the heat exchanger. The hot gas of the heat pumpis used for extra superheating of the ingoing first evaporated coolingmedium supplied to the turbine.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,343 to Dibelius et al discloses a method for thegeneration of heat using a heat pump in which a heat carrier fluid isheated by a heat exchanger and compressed with temperature increase in asubsequent compressor, heat is delivered therefrom to a heat-admittingprocess; the fluid is then expanded in a gas turbine, producing work,and afterwards its residual heat is delivered to a thermal powerprocess, the maximum temperature of the energy sources of which, thatprovide work for the compressor, lies below the temperature of heatdelivery. The main heat source can consist of an exothermic chemical ornuclear reaction and the heat-admitting process can be a coalgasification process. The work in the compressor is furnishedessentially by the gas turbine and the thermal power process.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,503,682 to Rosenblatt discloses an engine system thatincludes a synthetic low temperature sink which is developed inconjunction with an absorbtion-refrigeration subsystem having inputsfrom an external low-grade heat energy supply and from an externalsource of cooling fluid. A low temperature engine is included which hasa high temperature end that is in heat exchange communication with theexternal heat energy source and a low temperature end in heat exchangecommunication with the synthetic sink provided by theabsorbtion-refrigeration subsystem. It is possible to vary the sinktemperature as desired, including temperatures that are lower thanambient temperatures such as that of the external cooling source. Thisfeature enables the use of an external heat input source that is of avery low grade because an advantageously low heat sink temperature canbe selected.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,157 to Rosenblatt discloses a low temperature enginesystem that has an elevated temperature recuperator in the form of aheat exchanger having a first inlet connected to an extraction point atan intermediate position between the high temperature inlet and lowtemperature outlet of a turbine heat engine and an outlet connected by aconduit to a second inlet to the turbine between the high and lowtemperature ends thereof and downstream of the extraction point. In therecuperator thermodynamic medium vapor from extraction point is in heatexchange relationship with thermodynamic medium conducted from the lowtemperature exhaust end of the turbine unit through a water cooledcondenser and in heat exchange relationship in a refrigerant condenserwith a refrigerant flowing in an absorption-refrigeration subsystem. Thethermodynamic medium leaving the recuperator for return to the turbineis conducted through return conduit in further heat exchangerelationship with the refrigerant of the absorbent-refrigerant subsystemand is heated in a heat exchanger by an external source of heat energyand is returned to the high temperature end of the turbine throughconduit to complete the cycle. External coolant, such as water, isconducted through the thermodynamic-medium condenser in heat exchangerelation with the thermodynamic medium passing there through from thelow temperature exhaust end of the turbine.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,823 to Vogel, discloses a combined cyclethermodynamic heat flow process for the high efficiency conversion ofheat energy into mechanical shaft power. This process is particularlyuseful as a high efficiency energy conversion system for the supply ofelectrical power (and in appropriate cases thermal services). The highefficiency energy conversion system is also disclosed. A preferredsystem comprises dual closed Brayton cycle systems, one functioning as aheat engine, the other as a heat pump, with their respective closedworking fluid systems being joined at a common indirect heat exchanger.The heat engine preferably is a gas turbine, capable of operating atexceptionally high efficiencies by reason of the ability to reject heatfrom the expanded turbine working fluid in the common heat exchanger,which is maintained at cryogenic temperatures by the heat pump system.The heat pump system usefully employs gas turbine technology, but isdriven by an electric motor deriving its energy from a portion of theoutput of the heat engine.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,997 to Rosenblatt discloses an improved combinedcycle low temperature engine system having a circulating expandingturbine medium that is used to recover heat as it transverses it turbinepath. The recovery of heat is accomplished by providing a series of heatexchangers and presenting the expanding turbine medium so that it is inheat exchange communication with the circulating refrigerant in theabsorption refrigeration cycle. Previously recovery of heat from anabsorption refrigeration subsystem was limited to cold condensatereturning from the condenser of an ORC turbine on route to its boiler.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,010,920 to Saranchuk et al discloses a low temperatureheat engine that circulates waste heat back through a heat exchanger tothe prime mover inlet. The patent discloses a method for producing powerto drive a load using a working fluid circulating through a system thatincludes a prime mover having an inlet and an accumulator containingdischarge fluid exiting the prime mover. A stream of heated vaporizedfluid is supplied at relatively high pressure to the prime mover inletand is expanded through the prime mover to a lower pressure dischargeside where discharge fluid enters an accumulator. The discharge fluid isvaporized by passing it through an expansion device across a pressuredifferential to a lower pressure than the pressure at the prime moverdischarge side. Latent heat of condensation in the discharge fluid beingdischarged from the prime mover is transferred by a heat exchanger todischarge fluid that has passed through the expansion device. Vaporizeddischarge fluid, to which heat has been transferred from fluiddischarged from the prime mover, can be returned through a compressorand vapor drum to the prime mover inlet. Vaporized discharge fluid canbe removed directly from the accumulator by a compressor where it ispressurized slightly above the pressure in the vapor drum, to which itis delivered directly, or it can be passed through a heat exchangerwhere the heat from the compressed fluid is transferred to an externalmedia after leaving the compressor in route to the vapor drum. Liquiddischarge fluid from the accumulator is pumped to a boiler liquid drum,then to the vapor drum through a heat exchanger. The liquid dischargefluid may be expanded through an orifice to extract heat from anexternal source at heat exchanger and discharged into the vapor drum orthe accumulator, depending on its temperature upon leaving heatexchanger.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,096,665 to Stinger et al discloses a Cascading ClosedLoop Cycle (CCLC) and Super Cascading Closed Loop Cycle (Super-CCLC)systems are described for recovering power in the form of mechanical orelectrical energy from the waste heat of a steam turbine system. Thewaste heat from the boiler and steam condenser is recovered byvaporizing propane or other light hydrocarbon fluids in multipleindirect heat exchangers; expanding the vaporized propane in multiplecascading expansion turbines to generate useful power; and condensing toa liquid using a cooling system. The liquid propane is then pressurizedwith pumps and returned to the indirect heat exchangers to repeat thevaporization, expansion, liquefaction and pressurization cycle in aclosed, hermetic process. The system can be utilized to generate powerfrom low temperature heat sources.

Although numerous attempts have been made to capture waste heat from aprimary heat source and reuse the energy in a secondary power system allof these attempts have fallen short. Thus, what is needed is anefficient, reliable and cost effect power system and heat engine thatutilizes low temperature waste heat and is capable of operation using alow temperature and pressure working fluid.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly described, the present invention includes an externally heatedengine contained within an enclosure. A rotating member is mountedwithin the enclosure on bearings, with a shaft that extends through aseal, to the outside of the engine. Mounted upon the rotating member areone or more blades. A flow of gasses is directed upon the surface ofthese blades by the action of one or more stationary nozzles. As aresult of the action of the gasses upon the blades, force is exertedupon the blades. This causes the rotating member to revolve, and torqueis exerted upon the shaft while it rotates.

A rotating shaft is able to perform work, and this is accomplished bycoupling the shaft to an electrical generating device thereby producingelectrical power. Very large volumes of useful, moderate pressure gasare produced easily in this invention, at low temperatures, by using aworking fluid such as a refrigerant. For instance, refrigerant R134 isone possible type of working fluid. Many other standard refrigeranttypes are also suitable. This refrigerant, in its liquid form, will boilvery readily at low temperatures and pressures, and produce voluminousamounts of hot gas after being heated. R134 gas is particularly suitedfor this purpose, and completely avoids the need for high pressures andtemperatures.

The blades mounted on the rotating member of the instant invention arenot of traditional design. Prior art blades tend to be made for eitherhigh pressure and temperature gas flows—like in a jet engine forinstance—or for flows of liquids, especially water, as in ahydroelectric plant for instance. These blades do not function well forlow pressure and temperature gasses. The instant invention overcomes thelimits of the prior art by combining a unique blade design with aparticular design, to thereby extract power effectively under thedesired conditions.

As configured, the nozzle directs the flow almost straight on to thesurface of the blade. This creates a higher pressure on the upstreamside of the blade than on the downstream side, and due to this impacteffect, the pressure differential, delta P, produces a net force on theblade in the desired direction. Even a few pounds of delta P can producea large torque if the blade surface area is great enough, and thediameter of the rotating member is large.

In addition, the blade design additionally takes advantage of the changeof momentum in a flow that is produced by the geometry of the blade andthe flow of the hot gaseous working fluid. By reversing the flow ofworking fluid the resulting reaction force on the blade will be large,and in the desired direction. The momentum of a flow of gas isproportional to the square of its velocity, and so the nozzles aredesigned to greatly accelerate the velocity of the flow, prior toreaching the blade.

The force generated by the velocity of the gas flow is a vectorquantity, and so a change in direction can be as effective as a changein speed. So, rather than have the flow crash to rest up against theblade surface, the blade surface is curved, and in turn the flow is alsoturned almost 180 degrees. This produces a momentum change almost doublethat than if the flow had been brought to rest against the blade. Thecombination of very high (even supersonic) velocities and radical changein direction result in a very large change in momentum. Thus a largereaction force is exerted on the blade.

The combination of both types of action and the multiplying effects ofthe carefully directed gasses produce force levels not otherwiseavailable with gasses at these pressures and temperatures.

Additionally, to extract even greater performance from the whole systemenergy is recovered on both the input and exhaust of the turbine loop ofthe power system. On the input side of the engine, heat is brought fromthe external source to the heat exchanger serving the turbine loop. Thisis done by circulating a heat transfer fluid from the heat source overto the heat exchanger. Obviously not all of the available heat in thestream of heat transfer fluid will be absorbed into the engine in asingle pass through. If the fluid were discarded at that point, the heatnot absorbed would be lost. The system employs a pump and a loop torecirculate the fluid back to the source, and thence back around to theengine. In this way the heat is not wasted, and is presented again andagain to the engine and is ultimately nearly all used. Even the energyrequired to operate the pump is imparted to the flow, and thus capturedand circulated around the process for eventual use.

On the exhaust side of the turbine loop, a similar process is employed.The heat not converted in the engine to electricity is gathered up in aheat exchanger, and passed over into a reclaiming loop. This reclaimingloop is essentially a heat pump, and is used to raise the temperature ofthe working fluid back up, and it is then presented to another heatexchanger. This heat exchanger in turn is used to inject the heat backinto the primary loop of the engine, at an appropriate point. Even theenergy used to run the compressor in the heat pump is captured in theworking fluid, and is injected into the engine for use. The combinationof recovery of heat, and reuse of heat, on both the input and theexhaust sides of the engine is extremely effective and makes far morepower output available than would otherwise be the case, with a givenheat source.

Alternatively, the loop that brings the external source of heat to thesystem can be directed to the reclaiming loop containing the heat pumpsystem rather than to the turbine loop. The introduction of heat fromthe external heat source to the heat pump loop enables the utilizationof waste heat in temperature ranges lower than the arrangement whereinthe external heat source is in direct communication with the turbineloop. The utilization of relatively lower temperature waste heat greatlyexpands the areas of opportunity to recover waste heat that in practiceis typically going unused.

Accordingly, it is an objective of the instant invention to operate apower system without a need for a dedicated source of combustion inorder to operate.

It is a further objective of the instant invention to operate a powersystem on low temperature waste heat left over from power plant turbinecondensers or air conditioning units.

It is a further objective of the instant invention to operate a powersystem on low temperature solar, or geothermal power.

It is yet another objective of the instant invention that is capable ofefficiently utilizing low temperature heat sources and low pressureworking fluids to generate substantial energy.

It is a still further objective of the invention to provide a highlyefficient heat engine having one or more blades mounted on a rotatingmember that utilizes high velocity gas flow to apply force to therotating member.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent fromthe following description taken in conjunction with any accompanyingdrawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example,certain embodiments of this invention. Any drawings contained hereinconstitute a part of this specification and include exemplaryembodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects andfeatures thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the core of the turbine showing the majorcomponents, including blades, nozzles, the rotating member, and theenclosure.

FIG. 2A is a front view of the rotating member with mounting recessesfor the blades.

FIG. 2B is a side view of the rotating member with the mounting recessesfor the blades.

FIG. 3A is a top view of one of the blades.

FIG. 3B is a side view of one of the blades

FIG. 4 shows one end plate, the rotating member, the blades and thenozzles superimposed so that their relationships can be seen.

FIG. 5A shows one end plate with the nozzles and also the mounting andlocating holes for the plate.

FIG. 5B is a top view of the device shown in FIG. 5A.

FIG. 6A is a front view of the center portion, or ring, of theenclosure.

FIG. 6B is a top view of the center portion or ring shown in FIG. 6A

FIG. 7A is a front view of the opposite end plate with the exhaustports.

FIG. 7B is a top view of the opposite end plate with the exhaust ports.

FIG. 8A shows a converging nozzle, aligned with a blade, and theresulting directions of flow.

FIG. 8B shows a converging nozzle aligned with a blade having analternative shape to that shown in FIG. 8A.

FIG. 9 shows a converging-diverging nozzle, aligned with a blade, andthe resulting directions of flow.

FIG. 10A is a cross sectional view of the converging nozzle.

FIG. 10B is a perspective view of the nozzle of FIG. 10A

FIG. 11A is a cross sectional view of the converging-diverging nozzle.

FIG. 11B is a perspective view of the nozzle of FIG. 11A.

FIG. 12 shows a full system diagram, with a buffering heat exchanger onthe input loop, and using a generalized source of waste heat. This wouldfacilitate having a heat pump on the input side, if needed.

FIG. 13 shows a full system diagram, with a buffering heat exchanger onthe input loop, and using a solar array as a source of heat. This wouldfacilitate having a heat pump on the input side, if needed.

FIG. 14 shows a full system diagram, without a buffering heat exchangeron the input loop, and using a generalized source of waste heat.

FIG. 15 shows a full system diagram, without a buffering heat exchangeron the input loop, and using a solar array as a source of heat.

FIG. 16 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the full system diagramshown in FIG. 12 wherein the external heat loop is in indirect heatexchange relationship with the heat pump loop.

FIG. 17 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the full system diagramshown in FIG. 13 wherein the external heat loop is in indirect heatexchange relationship with the heat pump loop.

FIG. 18 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the full system shownin FIG. 14 wherein the external heat loop is in indirect heat exchangerelationship with the heat pump loop.

FIG. 19 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the full system shownin FIG. 15 wherein the external heat loop is in indirect heat exchangerelationship with the heat pump loop.

FIG. 20 illustrates the full system similar to that shown in FIG. 16 butwith an alternative form of sub-cooler in the turbine loop.

FIG. 21 illustrates the full system similar to that shown in FIG. 17 butwith an alternative form of sub-cooler in the turbine loop.

FIG. 22 illustrates the full system similar to that shown in FIG. 18 butwith an alternative form of sub-cooler in the turbine loop.

FIG. 23 illustrates the full system similar to that shown in FIG. 19 butwith an alternative form of sub-cooler in the turbine loop.

FIG. 24 illustrates the full system similar to that shown in FIG. 20 butfurther including a hot gas bypass and shutoff valve, auxiliaryexpansion valves for start up, as well as an alternative form ofelectrical power generation.

FIG. 25 illustrates the full system similar to that shown in FIG. 21 butfurther including a hot gas bypass and shutoff valve, auxiliaryexpansion valves for start up, as well as an alternative form ofelectrical power generation.

FIG. 26 illustrates the full system similar to that shown in FIG. 22 butfurther including a hot gas bypass and shutoff valve, auxiliaryexpansion valves for start up, as well as an alternative form ofelectrical power generation.

FIG. 27 illustrates the full system similar to that shown in FIG. 23 butfurther including a hot gas bypass and shutoff valve, auxiliaryexpansion valves for start up, as well as an alternative form ofelectrical power generation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 through 11 describe the heat engine. FIGS. 12 through 15describe the complete thermodynamic system.

Beginning with the heat engine, FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of theheat engine components. As shown, the heat engine includes a left endbell 6, a right end bell 7, and a ring 4 that act together to enclose,seal, and support the engine. A rotating member 1 is mounted on a shaft3, and the shaft 3 is supported by bearings 5 that are mounted in bothleft end bell 6 and right end bell 7. The shaft 3 is operativelyconnected to an electrical generator or other mechanical device toextract work from the rotating member 1. The left end housing includesinlet ports 16 each supporting a nozzle 8. The right hand bell 7includes exhaust ports 17. While the invention is illustrated with fourinlet nozzles, the number of inlet ports and corresponding nozzles canvary from one to many. The left end bell 6, the ring 4 and right endbell 7 are securely fastened together in a fluid tight relationship witha plurality of fasteners, such as bolts and nuts and seals (not shown).Bores 15 circumferentially spaced about the right and left end bells 6and 7 and ring 4 are sized and configured to allow passage of each ofthe plurality of bolts,

Mounted on the rotating member 1 are blades 2. It being understood thatthe numbers of blades and nozzles shown here are not the only quantitiespossible. For example these numbers could vary to increase the poweroutput of the heat engine. Likewise, while bearings 5 are illustrated asball bearings it should be understood that other types of bearings suchas needle bearings, roller bearings, journal bearings, magnetic bearingsand the like can be used as well. The rotating member 1 has a firstplanar surface 51 adjacent the left end bell 6 and a second planarsurface 53 adjacent the right end bell 7. An outer peripheral surface 55is contiguous with both the first and second planar surfaces. The blade2 has a width approximately equal to the distance between the first andsecond planar surfaces and a height that extends outward from the outerperipheral surface 55.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B show some additional details of the rotatingmember and blade attachment. Rotating member 1 has dovetail shapedmounting slots 9 into which the blades 2 may be slid from the side.Blades 2 have a wedge shaped base 10 with mounting holes 13 throughwhich pins and bolts are installed thereby holding the blades in placeonce they are slid into place in the mounting slots 9. The combinedeffect is to prevent the blades from being slung away from the rotatingmember by the forces of rotation, and also to prevent the blades frommoving side to side and thus rubbing on the side walls of the enclosure.Each blade 2 has a concave surface 12 on a first side surface of theblade and a convex surface 11 on a second side surface of the blade 2.

In operation, the nozzles 8 direct high speed gasses at the concavesurface 12 of each blade 2. The angle of the nozzles and the shape ofthe blades provide numerous advantages. FIGS. 10A and 11A show thenozzles in cross section. Gas enters from the left, and is passedthrough a converging nozzle, as in FIG. 10A, or a converging-divergingnozzle, as in FIG. 11A to achieve a very high gas velocity. The nozzlesare each fastened and sealed within their respective inlet ports 16 tofacilitate removal and replacement as desired. In addition, differingnozzle designs may be used to operate the engine in differingcircumstances requiring changes to flow properties. The nozzles areformed as a long slender hollow body which acts to receive the workinggases and deliver them to a precise location and flowing in a desireddirection. A tapered tip at the exit of the nozzle places the exitingflow into the desired position in the immediate proximity of the blades2 that are mounted on the rotating member 1.

The large total flow (mass) in combination with a very high gas flowvelocity exiting these nozzles results in a very large momentum for themass flow. This flow is significantly superior as a result, whencompared to prior art engines.

FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 9 illustrate this flow directed against the blades.FIG. 8A shows one embodiment the blade 2 and FIG. 8B shows analternative embodiment for the blade As shown, the gas flow isintroduced at a very shallow angle (10 degrees shown as an example)between the flow inlet and the blade 2 and 2′. The flow enters as nearlystraight on to the concave surface 12 the blade 2 as is practical inthis design. As a result of the high velocity gas flow across the bladetwo significant forces are imparted to the blade and the rotating memberupon which the blade is mounted. As the flow impacts the blade directly,the pressure on the upstream side, or concave surface 12, of the bladebecomes greater than the pressure on the downstream or convex surface 11of the blade. This creates a pressure differential (delta P) across theblade 2. This delta P, multiplied by the surface area of the blade,produces a force, which in turn imparts a rotational force to therotating member 1. The second significant force is the result of thelarge momentum change. The flow enters nearly straight up, as shown inFIG. 8A, and exits nearly straight down, meaning that a nearly completereversal (nearly 180 degrees) of the flow results. In the embodimentshown in FIG. 8B the flow enters the blade 2′ nearly straight up andexits not quite straight down creating a reversal of flow ofapproximately 120 degrees. As shown in FIG. 8B the blade 2′ has adownstream edge that directs the exhaust gas flow at a larger angle thanblade 2 shown in FIG. 8A The configuration of the downstream edge ofblade 2′ will prevent a build up of excess backpressure in the turbine.

Since velocity, and thus momentum, are vector quantities, a momentum of“M” entering, becomes a momentum of almost “−M” coming out. This createsa momentum change of M−(−M)=2M overall. The precise value of coursedepends on the exact blade angle. This is a great improvement over themomentum change that would have resulted from merely bringing the flowto rest against the blade, or by passing it across a slightly curvedblade, both being done in the prior art. The total force on each bladeis the combined result of both of the above significant forces.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the left end bell 6, the rotating member1, the blades 2, and the nozzles 8, all superimposed in a single view.

The invention specifically provides a plurality of blades, and aplurality of nozzles, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 thereby creatingmultiple pulses of force to be applied to the rotating element 1 inparallel. An even larger number of force pulses are produced as therotating member completes a full revolution. Providing multiple pulsesin parallel, increases the torque available at a given instant.Providing multiple pulses per revolution increases the power producedper revolution. It is understood that one of ordinary skill in the artcould alter the numbers of blades and nozzles, and thus the poweravailable from an engine. The numbers shown are for illustration and arenot limiting.

FIG. 10A is a cross sectional view of a converging nozzle 8A and FIG.10B is a perspective view of the converging nozzle 8A.

FIG. 11B is a cross sectional view of a converging-diverging nozzle 8Band FIG. 11B is a perspective view of the converging-diverging nozzle8B.

It is understood that one of ordinary skill in the art could devisevariations of these mounting features. The features shown illustrate thestructures and are not limiting. It is also within the scope of thisinvention that a turbine having a larger diameter would produce moretorque from the same pressure differential. Likewise a turbine havingwider blades would result in increasing the reactive surface areathereby creating more force and torque than turbines having blades ofsmaller width. The heat exchangers utilized in the following systems canbe of various types and numbers and it is contemplated that one skilledin the art would select the type and appropriate number of units toachieve the greatest operating efficiency.

We next examine the total thermodynamic system, as presented in FIGS. 12through 15. These figures present optional configurations that arepossible. Other variations of the basic configuration could beenvisioned by one skilled in the art, and these figures are notlimiting.

As shown in FIG. 12 there are 3 thermodynamic loops which make up thesystem. These are; the outside loop which brings heat from the source,the inside loop which runs the engine directly, and the heat pump loop,which recycles waste heat from the engine back into the system. Wedescribe these in detail below.

The outside, or heat source loop, begins with heat source 18. Thissource may be any source of low temperature heat, including waste heatfrom any number of waste heat sources or solar and geothermal heatsources as well. In this embodiment, the external heat source may supplytemperatures as low as 250° F. In the operational mode of this loop,heat from the source 18 is conveyed by a first heat transfer fluidaround to pump 21. The first heat transfer fluid may be Paratherm NF®,or one of many commercial equivalents. The speed of pump 21 iscontrolled by control unit 22, to achieve desired pressures and flowrates. A relief valve may be incorporated into the loop to avoid thebuildup of damaging excess pressure. The hot heat transfer fluid is thenconveyed to heat storage tank 23, where it is held using a phase changematerial. This material in storage tank 23 changes phase from solid toliquid when heated to the desired temperature. The heat of fusion ofsuch material being very large and capable of holding very largequantities of heat in a small volume. The stored heat may be used at alater time when the external heat source may become temporarilyunavailable. Nitrogen tank 20 is used to hold an inert gas such asnitrogen in the tops of the expansion tanks to prevent suction pressuresfrom falling too low and causing pump cavitations, and to preventcorrosion.

Once the desired amount of heat is stored, and the desired temperaturesare reached, then secondary pump 25 is started. This pump circulates asecond heat transfer fluid from the storage tank 23 over to the mainheat exchanger 24. Secondary speed controller 26 controls pump 25 andmaintains the desired pressures and flow rates. Heat which has thus beensupplied to the main heat exchanger 24 is now available for use. Alsoprovided are bypass valves 47 which permit bypassing the heat sourcearound the main heat exchanger 24 when desired, and also permitbypassing the heat into dump load 19, under conditions where excess heatis present and must be discarded to the environment.

The inside, or turbine loop, functions in the following manner.

Heat from main heat exchanger 24 is conveyed by the inside, or turbineloop, heat transfer fluid, which is a refrigerant, to the heat engine27. Heat engine 27 is constructed and operated in the manner disclosedin FIGS. 1 through 11. The refrigerant will operate at low temperaturesof less than 300 deg F., and at pressures of less than 200 psig. Inoperation the heat transfer fluid within the turbine loop will condenseat temperatures as low as 80 degrees F. and will boil at about 70degrees F. when used in this heat engine. This heat engine 27 thenoperates, and conveys power to generator unit 28. The generator unit 28produces electricity which is conducted to an inverter 29. The inverter29 processes the power and makes it available for use externally. Duringwarm-up, the refrigerant leaving heat exchanger 24 is bypassed aroundthe heat engine through orifice 44. This allows the inside loop to warmup, without presenting hot has to a cold heat engine, which wouldcondense and cause problems. A very small amount of hot gas is passedthrough the heat engine during this time, to bring it up to temperaturewithout excessive condensing of gas to liquid.

After leaving the engine 27, the gaseous refrigerant passes into theheat exchanger 30, which serves to condense the gas back to a liquid. Inthe process, heat is released to the heat pump loop, to be discussedpresently. On leaving heat exchanger 30, the inside loop refrigerant,now a liquid, passes through pressure control valve 46, which preventsthe pressure from dropping too low which would destabilize the loopfunction. Pressure control valve 46 is only needed in those cases wherethe system might be mounted in a cool climate. In such a case, thepressure of the condensed liquid coming out of the condensers could droptoo low. Without enough pressure present, the refrigerant will notcirculate in sufficient quantities, as pressure is needed to forcecirculation. The head pressure control valve prevents this loss ofpressure by reducing temporarily and automatically, the capacity of thecondensers, keeping the pressure high. The refrigerant is then stored inthe receiver 45, where it awaits further demand for circulation. Oncefurther fluid is required, it departs the receiver 45 and makes its waythrough sub-cooler 38, where it is cooled just sufficiently to preventpremature formation of any gas bubbles in the liquid. The flow thencontinues on to pump 41. In addition to circulating the liquid aroundthe loop, the pump acts to raise the pressure of the liquid to the levelrequired for operation. Flow gauge 42 provides a measure of the rate offlow, which is controlled by the speed of the pump.

The high pressure liquid then proceeds to valve 40. This valve isnormally on, but is closed when the engine is off, to prevent floodingof the downstream components.

On passing through valve 40 the flow reaches heat exchanger 39. Here itpicks up reclaimed heat from the heat pump loop to be discussedpresently. This raises the temperature of the liquid and causes it toboil and to form a gas. From here, the flow travels back to heatexchanger 24, where it receives the balance of the required heat, andthe cycle begins again. The system actually reclaims so much heat thatthe majority of the heat required to operate the engine comes from heatexchanger 39. Only a small amount of heat is added on each pass aroundthe loop from exchanger 24. This is central to the efficiency of thetotal system, and is totally unlike prior art engines.

We next describe the heat pump, or heat reclaiming, loop.

Starting from receiver 36, liquid heat reclaiming transfer fluid, againa refrigerant, is supplied under pressure to expansion valve 31. Herethe pressure is dropped sharply, in a controlled manner, and provided toheat exchanger 30. In this process, the refrigerant begins to boil, andbecomes a very cold gas. This cold gas extracts heat from the insideloop, through heat exchanger 30, and carries away this heat to bereclaimed. The cold gas now travels to pressure control valve 32, wherethe drop in pressure is regulated. Pressure control valve 32 isconsidered to be optional and is intended to prevent the evaporators inthe system from becoming too cold. In practice this seldom happens. Thegas pressure is kept high enough that the gas temperature does not dropto a temperature lower than that which is desired. From there, the gastravels to accumulator 34 where any liquid drops inadvertently remainingare held temporarily, thus preventing them from reaching and damagingthe compressor.

The flow, still a cold gas, then travels to compressor 35. While varioustypes of compressors can be utilized it should be recognized that oneskilled in the art would select the type and appropriate number of unitsto achieve the greatest operating efficiency. For example a multi unitscroll type compressor could be used. Here the gas is greatlycompressed, reaching much higher levels of pressure and temperature. Theflow then travels to heat exchanger 39, where the temperature is nowhigh enough so that the heat may be efficiently reinjected into theinside, or turbine loop process. Thus the heat has been reclaimed, alongwith the heat resulting from the compression work done by thecompressor.

In the process of passing through heat exchanger 39, the heat pump looprefrigerant gas cools sufficiently that it recondenses to a liquid onceagain. It then passes through sub-cooler 37 which condenses anyremaining liquid and slightly sub-cools the liquid. It then passesthrough pressure control valve 33 which prevents the pressure fromdropping too low and destabilizing the loop function, and then finallyreturns to receiver 36, where the heat pump loop process begins again. Afilter/dryer element is utilized to remove stray particles and alsostray moisture from the loop thereby preventing all components fromicing, damage and corrosion.

Additionally, system controller and display 43 is provided. Thisprovides automatic control of the entire system, using software createdfor this purpose. It will be appreciated that a system of thiscomplexity can only be operated in the field under automatic control.

FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic representation of the power system shown inFIG. 12 with a buffering heat exchanger on the input loop, substitutinga solar array as a source of heat. This would facilitate having a heatpump on the input side, if needed.

FIG. 14 is a diagrammatic representation of the power system describedin FIG. 12 however in this instance without a buffering heat exchangeron the input loop, and using a generalized source of waste heat.

FIG. 15 is a system similar to that shown in FIG. 14 without a bufferingheat exchanger on the input loop, and substituting a solar array as asource of heat.

As shown in FIG. 16 through 19 there are 3 thermodynamic loops whichmake up an alternative embodiment of the power system. These are; theoutside loop which brings heat from the source, the inside loop whichruns the engine directly, and the heat pump loop, which recycles wasteheat from the engine back into the system. In this embodiment the heatfrom the outside loop is directed to the heat pump loop rather than theturbine loop as in the previous embodiment thereby making it possible touse waste of lesser temperature than that used in the previousembodiment. Theoretically it is possible to use waste heat having atemperature as low as approximately 50 degrees F. however the volume offlow input heat would be very large in order to capture enoughBTU's/hour, which might make the apparatus impractically large. It hasbeen found the waste heat generated from conventional air conditioningunits which produce waste heat of approximately 150 degrees F. areparticularly well suited for this system. Likewise, waste heat frompower plant turbine condensers which produce waste heat in the 120degree F. range would also be particularly well suited for this system.

The system shown in FIGS. 16 through 19 shares most of the samecomponents of the system as shown and described in the systemillustrated in FIGS. 12 through 15.

The outside, or heat source loop, begins with heat source 18. Thissource may be any source of low temperature heat, including waste heatfrom any number of waste heat sources such as air conditioning units orpower plant turbine condensers. The external heat source may supplytemperatures as low as 50° F., but would preferably supply temperatureswithin the range of 120 to 150 degrees F. In the operational mode ofthis loop, heat from the source 18 is conveyed by a first heat transferfluid around to pump 21. The first heat transfer fluid may be ParathermNF®, or one of many commercial equivalents. The speed of pump 21 iscontrolled by control unit 22, to achieve desired pressures and flowrates. A relief valve may be incorporated into the loop to avoid thebuildup of damaging excess pressure. The hot heat transfer fluid is thenconveyed to heat storage tank 23, where it is held using a phase changematerial. This material in storage tank 23 changes phase from solid toliquid when heated to the desired temperature. The heat of fusion ofsuch material is very large and capable of holding very large quantitiesof heat in a small volume. The stored heat may be used at a later timewhen the external heat source may become temporarily unavailable.Nitrogen tank 20 is used to hold an inert gas such as nitrogen in thetops of the expansion tanks to prevent suction pressures from fallingtoo low and causing pump cavitations, and to prevent corrosion.

Once the desired amount of heat is stored, and the desired temperaturesare reached, then secondary pump 25 is started. This pump circulates asecond heat transfer fluid from the storage tank 23 over to the mainheat exchanger 24. Secondary speed controller 26 controls pump 25 andmaintains the desired pressures and flow rates. Heat which has thus beensupplied to the main heat exchanger 24 is now available for use. Alsoprovided are bypass valves 47 which permit bypassing the heat sourcearound the main heat exchanger 24 when desired, and also permitbypassing the heat into dump load 19, under conditions where excess heatis present and must be discarded to the environment.

The inside, or turbine loop, functions in the following manner.

Heat engine 27 is constructed and operated in the manner disclosed inFIGS. 1 through 11. The refrigerant will operate at low temperatures ofless than 300 deg F., and at pressures of less than 200 psig. Inoperation the heat transfer fluid within the turbine loop will condenseat temperatures as low as 80 degrees F. and will boil at about 70degrees F. when used in this heat engine. This heat engine 27 thenoperates, and conveys power to generator unit 28. The generator unit 28produces electricity which is conducted to an inverter 29. The inverter29 processes the power and makes it available for use externally. Duringwarm-up, the refrigerant leaving heat exchanger 24 is bypassed aroundthe heat engine through orifice 44. This allows the inside loop to warmup, without presenting hot gas to a cold heat engine, which wouldcondense and cause problems.

After leaving the engine 27, the gaseous refrigerant passes into theheat exchanger 30, which serves to condense the gas back to a liquid. Inthe process, heat is released to the heat pump loop, to be discussedpresently. On leaving heat exchanger 30, the inside loop refrigerant,now a liquid, passes through pressure control valve 46, which preventsthe pressure from dropping too low which would destabilize the loopfunction. Pressure control valve 46 is only needed in those cases wherethe system might be mounted in a cool climate. In such a case, thepressure of the condensed liquid coming out of the condensers could droptoo low. Without enough pressure present, the refrigerant will notcirculate in sufficient quantities, as pressure is needed to forcecirculation. The head pressure control valve prevents this loss ofpressure by reducing temporarily and automatically, the capacity of thecondensers, keeping the pressure high. The refrigerant is then stored inthe receiver 45, where it awaits further demand for circulation. Oncefurther fluid is required, it departs the receiver 45 and makes its waythrough sub-cooler 38, where it is cooled just sufficiently to preventpremature formation of any gas bubbles in the liquid. The flow thencontinues on to pump 41. In addition to circulating the liquid aroundthe loop, the pump acts to raise up the pressure of the liquid to thelevel required for operation. Flow gauge 42 provides a measure of therate of flow, which is controlled by the speed of the pump.

The high pressure liquid then proceeds to valve 40. This valve isnormally on, but is closed when the engine is off, to prevent floodingof the downstream components.

On passing through valve 40 the flow reaches heat exchanger 39. Here itpicks up reclaimed heat from the heat pump loop and the outside orexternal heat loop, as will be discussed. This raises the temperature ofthe liquid and causes it to boil and to form a gas. From here, the flowtravels to the heat engine 27. Located immediately downstream of theheat engine 27 is a de-superheater 54. The function of de-superheater 54is to dispose of excess heat present in the turbine exhaust. Inside theturbine, enthalpy is converted to mechanical work. However, not all ofthe enthalpy can be effectively converted to work within the turbine andtherefore a considerable amount of enthalpy will be left in the exhaust.If all of the enthalpy was transferred to the heat pump loop forrecycling it would overwhelm the capacity of the heat pump. If the heatpump were made powerful enough to avoid being overwhelmed, the heat pumpitself would then consume more energy than can be produced. Thede-superheater 54 will dump this excess enthalpy to the environmentusing an air cooled heat exchanger. The de-superheater 54 does notcondense the hot gas into a liquid but merely removes some excess energyfrom the hot gas. The system actually reclaims much of the heat and thisis central to the efficiency of the total system, and is totally unlikeprior art engines.

We next describe the heat pump, or heat reclaiming, loop.

Starting from receiver 36, liquid heat reclaiming transfer fluid, againa refrigerant, is supplied under pressure to expansion valve 31. Herethe pressure is dropped sharply, in a controlled manner, and provided toheat exchanger 30. In this process, the refrigerant begins to boil, andbecomes a very cold gas. This cold gas extracts heat from the insideloop, through heat exchanger 30, and carries away this heat to bereclaimed. The cold gas now travels to pressure control valve 32, wherethe drop in pressure is regulated. Pressure control valve 32 and othervalves designated as EPR valve are considered to be optional and areintended to prevent the evaporators in the system from becoming toocold. In practice this seldom happens. At this point the heat reclaimingfluid that has passed through heat exchanger 24 and is conveyed throughline 50 into the flow. The heat from the external loop is added to theheat pump loop at this point. The gas pressure is kept high enough thatthe gas temperature does not drop to a temperature lower than that whichis desired. From there, the gas travels to accumulator 34 where anyliquid drops inadvertently remaining are held temporarily, thuspreventing them from reaching and damaging the compressor.

The flow then travels to compressor 35. Here the gas is greatlycompressed, reaching much higher levels of pressure and temperature. Theflow then travels to heat exchanger 39, where the temperature is nowhigh enough so that the heat may be efficiently reinjected into theinside, or turbine loop process. Thus the heat reclaiming loop containsthe heat from the turbine loop that has been reclaimed, the heat fromthe external loop along with the heat resulting from the compressionwork done by the compressor.

In the process of passing through heat exchanger 39, the heat pump looprefrigerant gas cools sufficiently that it recondenses to a liquid onceagain. Preferably, located immediately downstream of the heat exchanger39 is a water cooled condenser 56 that is used only during the start-upand adjustment phases of the operation of the system. The water cooledcondenser 56 provides a condensing function for the hot gas in the heatpump loop during such times (e.g. start up) when the main condenser hasnot yet ramped up to its intended capacity. If the water cooledcondenser 56 were not present, hot gas could fail to fully condense,resulting in a breakdown of the heat pump loop function. Under certainparameters it is possible that water cooled condenser 56 may beconsidered to be optional. The heat pump refrigerant is then passedthrough sub-cooler 37 which condenses any remaining liquid and slightlysub-cools the liquid. It then passes through pressure control valve 33which prevents the pressure from dropping too low and destabilizing theloop function, and then finally returns to receiver 36, where the heatpump loop process begins again. A return line 52 connected upstream ofexpansion valve 31 will convey a portion of the refrigerant to heatexchanger 24. A filter/dryer element is utilized to remove strayparticles and also stray moisture from the loop thereby preventing allcomponents from icing, damage and corrosion.

Additionally, system controller and display 43 is provided. Thisprovides automatic control of the entire system, using software createdfor this purpose. It will be appreciated that a system of thiscomplexity can only be operated in the field under automatic control.

FIG. 17 is a diagrammatic representation of the power system shown inFIG. 16 with a buffering heat exchanger on the input loop, substitutinga solar array as a source of heat. This would facilitate having a heatpump on the input side, if needed.

FIG. 18 is a diagrammatic representation of the power system describedin FIG. 16 however in this instance without a buffering heat exchangeron the input loop, and using a generalized source of waste heat.

FIG. 19 is a system similar to that shown in FIG. 18 without a bufferingheat exchanger on the input loop, and substituting a solar array as asource of heat.

FIGS. 20 through 23 illustrate alternative system embodiment to thoseshown in FIGS. 16 through 19. In this system embodiment a refrigeratedsub-cooler 58 has been substituted to air cooled sub-cooler 38 in theprevious embodiment. Refrigerated sub-cooler 58 is located immediatelybefore pump 41 in the turbine. The refrigerated sub-cooler is capable ofproper performance at any given ambient temperature. With the air cooledsub-cooler 38, when the air temperature reaches a certain value (in thearea of approximately 80 degrees F.) the sub-cooler malfunctions andcauses the liquid refrigerant to flash into gas. Once the gas reachesthe input of the pump the pump would not function properly and theturbine would stop working. In those cases where the ambient temperatureis too warm the alternative sub-cooler design that uses refrigeration isrequired. A small amount of the heat pump capacity is tapped off throughcapillary tubes and sent to a heat exchange equipped to use it, as shownin FIGS. 20 through 23. This refrigeration effect will reduce the liquidtemperature flowing to the turbine pump 41 to a temperature severaldegrees below ambient. It will be cold enough that it cannot flash to agas. This will eliminate the pump malfunction and consequent stopping ofthe turbine. Also, shown in the system embodiment of FIGS. 20-23 is anoptional hot gas by pass valve 60. By pass valve 60 acts to increase theflow of refrigerant during periods of low flow. This may occur at startup when the heat load is low. The hot gas injected increases the volumeand velocity of the flow through the system, preventing unwanted buildupof refrigerant oil through the heat pump loop.

The system embodiment shown in FIGS. 24 through 27 illustrate analternative embodiment to the system shown in FIGS. 20 through 23. Inthis embodiment a start-up expansion valve 62 is employed in addition tothe main expansion valve 31. The main expansion valve 31 is a very largecapacity unit designed to handle the full load imposed on the heat pumploop of the engine. This valve is self controlling; adjusting its outputas required over a range of from 20% of the nameplate value up to amaximum of perhaps 120% of the nameplate value. Unfortunately, when theunit is first started, and is warming up, the load imposed isconsiderably less than 20% of the nameplate value. Hence the mainexpansion valve cannot be used, as it is impossible for it to throttledown far enough. The result is over-feeding of refrigerant, whichoverloads and overfills the heat exchanger to which it is connected.This problem is solved by having the control system switch between twovalves. The main valve 31 is turned off during warm-up and a muchsmaller starter expansion valve 62 is turned on in its place. Thisstarter expansion valve 62 has no problem throttling down far enough.Later, when the pressure and temperature sensors detect that the startervalve 62 has reached its full capacity, the starter valve 62 is switchedoff, and the system reverts to using the main expansion valve 31instead. This embodiment discloses a generator 64 which can be anyconfiguration that is capable of converting mechanical work intoelectrical energy. It should be recognized that this type of generatorcan be used in any of the aforementioned power system embodiments. Onepossible configuration would be the use of a three phase motor as agenerator. It is self regulating, producing electrical power in exactproportion to the horsepower applied. This eliminates the need forcostly power conversion and regulating components entirely. The threephase motor must be properly sized such that the maximum available shafthorsepower does not overload the motor electrically. Likewise, themechanical output of heat engine 27 can be used as a power take off forany type of mechanical equipment that uses shaft horse power, such asbut not limited to pumps, compressors, milling equipment, etc.

It will be appreciated that all of these components, including pressuregauges and service ports and other items not specifically discussedcould be arranged in slightly different orders, and still lie within theintent of the system. The diagram presented is illustrative and notlimiting.

All patents and publications mentioned in this specification areindicative of the levels of those skilled in the art to which theinvention pertains. All patents and publications are herein incorporatedby reference to the same extent as if each individual publication wasspecifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.

It is to be understood that while a certain form of the invention isillustrated, it is not to be limited to the specific form or arrangementherein described and shown. It will be apparent to those skilled in theart that various changes may be made without departing from the scope ofthe invention and the invention is not to be considered limited to whatis shown and described in the specification and any drawings/figuresincluded herein.

One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the presentinvention is well adapted to carry out the objectives and obtain theends and advantages mentioned, as well as those inherent therein. Theembodiments, methods, procedures and techniques described herein arepresently representative of the preferred embodiments, are intended tobe exemplary and are not intended as limitations on the scope. Changestherein and other uses will occur to those skilled in the art which areencompassed within the spirit of the invention and are defined by thescope of the appended claims. Although the invention has been describedin connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should beunderstood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited tosuch specific embodiments. Indeed, various modifications of thedescribed modes for carrying out the invention which are obvious tothose skilled in the art are intended to be within the scope of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A heat and power generating system comprising; athermodynamic external heat source loop having an external heat sourceof approximately 150° F. or less and a first working fluid in heatexchange relationship with a heat source; a first pump within said heatsource loop to circulate said first working fluid and a base heatexchanger; a thermodynamic heat engine loop having a second workingfluid, said second working fluid being a refrigerant and a pump in saidthermodynamic heat engine loop to circulate said second working fluidand raise its pressure during the thermodynamic cycle and a heat enginein fluid communication with said second working fluid; a thermodynamicheat reclaiming loop having a third working fluid, said third workingfluid being a refrigerant, and a compressor in said thermodynamic heatreclaiming loop to circulate said third working fluid and increase thepressure and temperature of the third working fluid within the heatreclaiming loop, said thermodynamic heat reclaiming loop comprising aplurality of subsidiary loops each operating at a different temperaturefrom the others including a first subsidiary loop configured tocommunicate with said base heat exchanger transferring heat from saidfirst working fluid to said third working fluid; said heat reclaimingloop having a second subsidiary loop including a heat input heatexchanger, said heat input heat exchanger configured to transfer heatfrom said heat engine loop to said heat reclaiming loop at a differenttemperature from that of the other said subsidiary loops, said inputheat exchanger configured to perform a majority of such heat transfer insaid second subsidiary loop when said second working fluid isevaporating and said third working fluid is condensing in simultaneousinverse phase change; said heat reclaiming loop having a thirdsubsidiary loop including a separate heat output heat exchanger, saidoutput heat exchanger configured to transfer heat into said heat engineloop from said heat reclaiming loop, said third subsidiary loopoperating at a different temperature from the temperatures of said firstand second subsidiary loops, said heat output heat exchanger configuredto perform a majority of such heat transfer in said third subsidiaryloop when said second working fluid is condensing and said third workingfluid is evaporating in simultaneous inverse phase change.
 2. The powergenerating system of claim 1, wherein said second working fluid willoperate at temperatures of less than 300° F. and at pressures of lessthan 200 psig and the working fluid will condense at temperatures as lowas 80° F. and boil at about 70° F. when circulated through thethermodynamic heat engine loop.
 3. The power generating system of claim1 wherein said thermodynamic heat source loop includes a holding tankcontaining a heat storage medium, said heat storage medium being a phasechange material that will change from a solid to a liquid at a givenconstant temperature, whereby the heat of fusion of the heat storagematerial facilitates the storage of large amounts of heat in a smallvolume and said thermodynamic heat source loop maintains a constantoutput temperature while the temperature of the external heat source mayfluctuate.
 4. The power generating system of claim 1 wherein said heatsource originates with waste heat from an air-conditioning system, otherpower plant or other thermo dynamic systems.
 5. The power generatingsystem of claim 2 wherein said heat source includes a power plantturbine condenser.
 6. The power generating system of claim 2 whereinsaid heat source includes a thermal solar array.
 7. The power generatingsystem of claim 2 wherein said heat source is geothermal.
 8. The powergenerating system of claim 2 wherein said heat engine includes arotating member, said member configured as a generally circular diskhaving a first planar face and a second planar face, said rotatingmember further including a peripheral outer surface contiguous with bothsaid first planar surface and said second outer surface and, a blademounted on the peripheral outer surface of said rotating member andhaving a height extending radially outward from said peripheral outersurface and a width extending between said first planar surface and saidsecond planar surface; said blade having a concave surface on a firstside of the blade and a convex surface on a second side of the blade,both the convex and concave surfaces extending from a location adjacentthe first planar surface to a location adjacent the second planarsurface; a source of gaseous working fluid; a housing enclosing saidrotating member, said housing having at least one gas inlet port forintroducing said second working fluid into said heat engine, and atleast one gas exhaust port and a chamber sized and configured to receivesaid rotating member; each of said at least one gas inlet port includinga nozzle creating a gas flow of very high velocity, said nozzle having atapered tip at the exit of the nozzle for directing the very highvelocity gas flow at a very shallow angle on to the concave surface ofsaid blade.
 9. The power system of claim 8 wherein said high velocitygas flow exits said nozzle and enters nearly straight on to the concavesurface of said blade, the high velocity gas flow then turns and followsthe curvature of said concave surface and exits the concave surface ofsaid blade flowing in a direction in the range of 120 to nearly 180degrees from the direction that the high velocity gas flow entered uponthe concave surface of the blade thereby imparting a momentum equal toalmost twice the momentum of the high velocity gas flow.
 10. The powersystem of claim 9, wherein said high velocity gas flow across theconcave surface of the blade creates a higher pressure adjacent theconcave surface of the blade than the pressure adjacent the convexsurface of the blade, whereby the pressure differential multiplied bythe surface are of the blade produces a force which is used to turn therotating member.
 11. The power system of claim 2 wherein saidthermodynamic heat engine loop includes a waste heat output heatexchanger and a separate heat reclaiming input heat exchanger, saidwaste heat output exchanger being in heat exchange relationship withsaid heat reclaiming loop heat input heat exchanger and, said heatreclaiming input heat exchanger being in heat exchange relationship withsaid heat reclaiming loop heat output heat exchanger.
 12. The powersystem of claim 2 wherein the thermodynamic heat reclaiming loopincludes an expansion valve thereby reducing the pressure in the heatreclaiming loop and counterbalancing the compressor and at the same timeproducing a cooling action necessary to remove heat from thethermodynamic heat engine loop.
 13. The power system of claim 12 whereinthe thermodynamic heat reclaiming loop further includes a first pressureregulating valve that prevents the pressure from the expansion valvefrom dropping too low thereby avoiding overcooling of the reclaimingloop output heat exchanger and a second pressure regulator that preventsthe pressure from the compressor from dropping too low.
 14. The powersystem of claim 13 wherein the thermodynamic heat reclaiming loopfurther includes an accumulator that catches stray liquid therebypreventing stray liquid from reaching the compressor and causing damageand a holding vessel which holds a sufficient supply of refrigerant toprevent a shortage of said third working fluid.
 15. The power system ofclaim 14 wherein the thermodynamic heat reclaiming loop further includesa sub-cooling heat exchanger which expels excess heat from the heatreclaiming loop to the atmosphere as required thereby keeping the thirdworking fluid from creating unwanted gas bubbles that can cause thevalves to malfunction and a filter and drier element that removes strayparticles and moisture from the third working fluid thereby preventingicing, damage and corrosion.
 16. The power system of claim 2 wherein thethermodynamic heat source loop includes bypass valves which permitbypassing the heat source around said heat exchanger when desired,thereby bypassing the heat into a dump load.
 17. The power system ofclaim 16 wherein said thermodynamic heat source loop includes a reliefvalve to avoid the buildup of a damaging excess of pressure.
 18. A heatand power generating system comprising; a thermodynamic external heatsource loop having an external heat source of approximately 150° F. orless and a first working fluid in heat exchange relationship with a heatsource; a first pump within said heat source loop to circulate saidfirst working fluid to a heat storage tank and a buffering heat sourceloop including a second pump that transfers heat from said heat storagetank to a heat exchanger; a thermodynamic heat engine loop having asecond working fluid, said second working fluid being a refrigerant anda pump in said thermodynamic heat engine loop to circulate said secondworking fluid and raise its pressure during the thermodynamic cycle anda heat engine in fluid communication with said second working fluid anda thermodynamic heat reclaiming loop having a third working fluid, saidthird working fluid being a refrigerant, and a compressor in saidthermodynamic heat reclaiming loop to circulate said third working fluidand increase the pressure and temperature of the third working fluidwithin the heat reclaiming loop, said thermodynamic heat reclaiming loopcomprising a plurality of subsidiary loops each operating at a differenttemperature from the others including a first subsidiary loop configuredto communicate with said base heat exchanger transferring heat from saidfirst working fluid to said third working fluid; said heat reclaimingloop having a second subsidiary loop including a heat input heatexchanger, said heat input heat exchanger configured to transfer heatfrom said heat engine loop to said heat reclaiming loop at a differenttemperature from that of the other said subsidiary loops said input heatexchanger configured to perform a majority of such heat transfer in saidsecond subsidiary loop when said second working fluid is evaporating andsaid third working fluid is condensing in simultaneous inverse phasechange; said heat reclaiming loop having a third subsidiary loopincluding a separate heat output heat exchanger, said output heatexchanger configured to transfers heat into said heat engine loop fromsaid heat reclaiming loop, said third subsidiary loop operating at adifferent temperature from the temperatures of said first and secondsubsidiary loops, said heat output heat exchanger configured to performa majority of such heat transfer in said third subsidiary loop when saidsecond working fluid is condensing and said third working fluid isevaporating in simultaneous inverse phase change; said heat engineincludes a rotating member, said member configured as a generallycircular disk having a first planar face and a second planar face, saidrotating member further including a peripheral outer surface contiguouswith both said first planar surface and said second outer surface and,at least one blade mounted on the peripheral outer surface of saidrotating member and having a height extending radially outward from saidperipheral outer surface and a width extending between said first planarsurface and said second planar surface; said blade having a concavesurface on a first side of the blade and a convex surface on a secondside of the blade, both the convex and concave surfaces extending from alocation adjacent the first planar surface to a location adjacent thesecond planar surface; a housing enclosing said rotating member, saidhousing having at least one gas inlet port for introducing said secondworking fluid into said heat engine, and at least one gas exhaust portand a chamber sized and configured to receive said rotating member; eachof said at least one gas inlet port including a nozzle creating a gasflow of very high velocity, said nozzle having a tapered tip at the exitof the nozzle for directing the very high velocity gas flow at a veryshallow angle on to the concave surface of said blade, said highvelocity gas flow exits said nozzle and enters nearly straight on to theconcave surface of said blade, the high velocity gas flow then turns andfollows the curvature of said concave surface and exits the concavesurface of said blade flowing in a direction of between approximately120 to nearly 180 degrees from the direction that the high velocity gasflow entered upon the concave surface of the blade thereby imparting amomentum equal to almost twice the momentum of the high velocity gasflow, and, said high velocity gas flow across the concave surface of theblade creates a higher pressure adjacent the concave surface of theblade than the pressure adjacent the convex surface of the blade,whereby the pressure differential multiplied by the surface area of theblade produces a force which is used to turn the rotating member. 19.The power generating system of claim 18, wherein said second workingfluid will operate at temperatures of less than 300° F. and at pressuresof less than 200 psig and the working fluid will condense attemperatures as low as 80° F. and boil at about 70° F. when circulatedthrough the thermodynamic heat engine loop.
 20. The power generatingsystem of claim 18 wherein said heat storage tank includes a holdingtank containing a heat storage medium, said heat storage medium being aphase change material that will change from a solid to a liquid at agiven constant temperature, whereby the heat of fusion of the heatstorage material facilitating the storage of large amounts of heat in asmall volume and said thermodynamic heat source loop maintains aconstant output temperature while the temperature of the external heatsource may fluctuate.
 21. The power generating system of claim 18wherein said heat source originates with waste heat from anair-conditioning system or refrigeration system.
 22. The powergenerating system of claim 18 wherein said heat source includes a powerplant turbine condenser.
 23. The power generating system of claim 18wherein said heat source is geothermal or solar.
 24. The power system ofclaim 18 wherein said thermodynamic heat engine loop includes a wasteheat output heat exchanger and a separate heat input heat exchanger,said waste heat output exchanger being in heat exchange relationshipwith said heat reclaiming loop heat input heat exchanger in said secondsubsidiary loop of said heat reclaiming loop and the great majority ofsuch heat transfer occurs when said second working fluid and said thirdworking fluid are both simultaneously in a phase change state and, saidheat input heat exchanger being in heat exchange relationship with saidheat reclaiming loop heat output heat exchanger in said third subsidiaryloop of said heat reclaiming loop and the majority of heat transferoccurs when said second working fluid and said third working fluid areboth simultaneously in a phase change state.
 25. The power system ofclaim 18 wherein the thermodynamic heat reclaiming loop includes anexpansion valve thereby reducing the pressure in the heat reclaimingloop and counterbalancing the compressor and at the same time producinga cooling action necessary to remove heat from the thermodynamic heatengine loop.
 26. The power system of claim 25 wherein the thermodynamicheat reclaiming loop further includes a first pressure regulating valvethat prevents the pressure from the expansion valve from dropping toolow thereby avoiding overcooling of the reclaiming loop output heatexchanger and a second pressure regulator that prevents the pressurefrom the compressor from dropping too low.
 27. The power system of claim26 wherein the thermodynamic heat reclaiming loop further includes anaccumulator that catches stray liquid thereby preventing stray liquidfrom reaching the compressor and causing damage and a holding vesselwhich holds a sufficient supply of refrigerant for prevent a shortage ofsaid third working fluid.
 28. The power system of claim 27 wherein thethermodynamic heat reclaiming loop further includes a sub-cooling heatexchanger which expels excess heat from the heat reclaiming loop to theatmosphere as required thereby keeping the third working fluid fromcreating unwanted gas bubbles that can cause the valves to malfunctionand a filter and drier element that removes stray particles and moisturefrom the third working fluid thereby preventing icing, damage andcorrosion.
 29. The power system of claim 18 wherein the thermodynamicheat source loop includes bypass valves which permit bypassing the heatsource around said heat exchanger when desired, thereby bypassing theheat into a dump load.
 30. The power system of claim 29 wherein saidthermodynamic heat source loop includes a relief valve to avoid thebuildup of a damaging excess of pressure.
 31. The power system of claim18 wherein the thermodynamic heat source loop and the buffering loopeach include expansion tanks to prevent suction pressures from fallingtoo low and causing pump cavitation and to prevent corrosion.
 32. Thepower system of claim 18 wherein a de-superheater is located immediatelydownstream of said heat engine whereby excess heat is dumped to theenvironment.
 33. The power system of claim 28 further including a watercooled condenser heat exchanger located immediately downstream of thesub cooler heat exchanger that is used only during start up andadjustment phases of operation of the system.
 34. The power system ofclaim 32 wherein the heat engine loop includes a sub cooler locateddownstream of said de-superheater and upstream of the pump in thethermodynamic heat engine loop.
 35. The power system of claim 34 whereinsaid sub cooler is refrigerated whereby additional heat is transferredfrom said heat engine loop to a fourth subsidiary loop of said heatreclaiming loop, said fourth subsidiary loop operating a differenttemperature from the temperatures of said first, second and thirdsubsidiary loops of said heat reclaiming loop.
 36. The power system ofclaim 34 wherein said sub cooler is air cooled.